


Triptych

by kethni



Series: Trinity Chronicles [7]
Category: American Gothic (TV 1995)
Genre: Adultery, F/F, F/M, Minor Character Death, Open Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: Lucas glanced at Ben. ‘Take Merlyn to her bedroom. Pick her up if you have to.’Judith relaxed a fraction. ‘You’re not staying?’‘No time,’ Lucas said, shaking his head. ‘Barbara Joy’s water just broke and if this one misses the birth; I will never hear the end of it.’Ben, half carrying Merlyn, spun on his heel. ‘She’s what?’Lucas rolled his eyes. ‘Put the child in bed, Ben,’ he said slowly and carefully. ‘You’ve got time.’‘Shit!’ Ben rushed into the bedroom and settled Merlyn in bed as quickly as humanly possible.
Relationships: Lucas Buck/Ben Healy, Lucas Buck/Selena Coombs
Series: Trinity Chronicles [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581667





	Triptych

Life had a way of filling up all the possible space. Things weren’t good at home, that was true, but things hadn’t been good since Barbara Joy ha got pregnant. Now she was heavy as a bear and twice as ornery. Ben had tried everything he could to make her happy. He tried being home as much as he could but that grated on her nerves. He tried doing as much overtime as he could, but she accused him of avoiding her. Now he was just sticking to his regular hours and she complained that he was making no effort at all. It seemed like there was just no happy medium to be found at all.

At least working extra had got him enough money to move out of the chicken coop with ideas above its station. Lucas had offered to help him buy a place, but Ben hadn’t been comfortable with that. Lucas was already mixed up in so much of his life already in ways Ben couldn’t quite express and sure couldn’t explain. He figured that he should feel guilty about the things that Lucas liked to do to him and the things that he liked to have Ben do. Ben should have felt guilt about those things, but he didn’t. He felt guilty about not feeling guilty. Ben knew what folks would call it if they knew. What they would call _him_. Barbara Joy would divorce him if she knew. She’d make sure he couldn’t be a father to his child. It made no sense to keep letting Lucas use him whatever way it suited him.

Except when it was happening. When it was happening, it was the only thing that made sense.

Between doctor visits, work, fixing up the new place, and running around for whatever Barbara Joy needed, Ben felt he had hardly a moment to think clearly. He sure as heck wasn’t much in the way of listening to gossip at Barbara Joy’s sister’s anniversary party. He didn’t even notice right away that Barbara Joy was addressing him. It wasn’t like _that_ happened much these days.

‘What?’ he said.

Barbara Joy pulled a face. ‘What?’ she echoed. ‘Good Lord, Ben. I swear you don’t listen to a word I say.’

He felt the colour rush into his cheeks. ‘I didn’t sleep real well.’

She put her hand on her baby bump. ‘We were _talking_ about that new teacher at the school.’

‘What new teacher?’ Ben asked.

There was a sort of collective groan of disappointment.

‘Selena Coombs,’ Jim said. ‘Come back from college with that pretty nose right up in the air.’

‘You haven’t met her?’ Margaret asked Ben. ‘We heard she was real friendly with the sheriff before she went away.’

‘I should hope that Sheriff Buck would know better than hitting on some uppity girl barely out of school. How old is he anyway?’ Barbara Joy sniffed.

Ben shuffled his feet. ‘Few years older than me.’

Margaret sipped her drink. ‘Whoever he’s passing time with, he’s keeping it real quiet.’

‘Why does he have to be seeing anyone?’ Ben asked.

Jim chuckled. ‘He’s a single man of means and authority, Ben. Trinity is full of ladies who would consider that the trifecta.’

‘Handsome too,’ Barbara Joy said. ‘He’s come by the house a couple times to pick up Ben and he was a tall glass of iced tea, and _so_ charming.’

Ben tried not to roll his eyes. ‘When he wants to be, sure.’

‘How you manage to spend so much time with him and stay untouched I have no idea.’

Ben gulped down a mouthful of his drink. ‘You don’t have any call saying that.’

‘I don’t see any signs of him rubbing off on you, that’s all I mean,’ Barbara Joy said.

Ben cleared his throat. ‘Well, if he were in my place then maybe he wouldn’t be so charming.’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘He’d still be handsome.’

***

Ben was scowling as he read through the bulletins that had just arrived. He’d been there nearly an hour and hadn’t seen Lucas yet. That wasn’t so unusual, truth be told. Lucas spent a lot of time in his dark, imposing office. He didn’t have any files in his office that Ben could see nor any books, so Ben wasn’t sure quite what he did all the time he was in there. Someone else and he might have figured that he was napping, but that didn’t seem likely. If Lucas wanted to sleep, he could just go home. It wasn’t like anyone was going to stop him.

Lucas usually came into the main office to read the newspaper mid-morning. If Ben was there, then Lucas would split his time between reading the paper and gently poking Ben. Some days it was mischievous teasing. Some days it was mordant taunting. There was no telling on any day which one it would be.

Ben looked up when the door jangled. He didn’t know for sure know the young woman who walked in, though she looked familiar. She was petite with honey-blonde hair and pouting lips. She was wearing a fresh white dress printed with large red poppies. The dress clung to her torso and flared out at the waist.

‘Can I help you?’ Ben asked, sitting up.

She gave him a look of frank appraisal. ‘It’s always such a blow to the ego not to be recognised,’ she said. ‘Although we didn’t have any classes together.’

Ben winced. ‘Right, I knew you looked familiar. College.’

She sauntered over. ‘You were a couple years ahead of me.’

‘I guess so.’ Ben licked his lips. ‘How can I help you Miss…?’

‘Selena Coombs,’ she said. ‘Sheriff Buck asked to see me.’

‘I’m Deputy Healy,’ he said. ‘You related to Reverend Coombs?’

She let out a small sigh. ‘Unfortunately. Is the sheriff in?’

Ben blinked. ‘Oh. The sheriff. Let me see if he’s available.’

Selena tipped her head. ‘Thank you, Ben.’

He stopped partway to the door. ‘Uh, you’re welcome.’

She smiled and gestured to the door. ‘He generally doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’

***

Ben went to make himself a coffee in the little kitchen. There was no arguing that Selena Coombs was a beautiful woman, although not quite in full bloom, but something about her made him uneasy. He’d only been a deputy for a few months now, but he was starting to trust his instincts for when things weren’t right. She was younger than he was but there was something knowing about her that didn’t sit right with him. Like she knew something that he didn’t know, but he should.

As he poured the coffee into his mug it occurred to him that maybe he was making excuses. That maybe what he was so uneasy about was the fact that she was beautiful and young. Beautiful, young, and having a private meeting with Lucas.

He was spooning sugar into his coffee when he heard the moans and gasps from Lucas’s office. The floorboards creaked rhythmically as if in time with some regular, repeated movement.

Ben shut the kitchen door, hid in the corner of the room, and squeezed his eyes shut.

It wasn’t even a surprise. Not really. He didn’t ask Lucas what he did when he wasn’t at work, and he certainly didn’t ask who he was with. He hadn’t realised until that moment how much he didn’t want to know.

As he heard the crescendo, he escaped back to front office. He buried himself in the bulletins that he had already read and tried not to react when he heard the connecting door open.

The few footsteps that crossed the space to his chair were too heavy, too loud, and too widely spaced to be Miss Coombs. Ben was just realising when the hand landed on his shoulder.

Ben looked up into Lucas’s expression of mild amusement.

‘You alright there, Ben?’ Lucas asked. ‘You seemed in a world of your own.’

Ben gritted his teeth. ‘I’m working.’ He didn’t say that someone had to, but he had a feeling that Lucas heard it all the same.

Lucas’s long fingers squeezed Ben’s shoulder. ‘Why don’t you take a break? Run and get some coffee and donuts from _Ruby’s_.’ He held out a ten-dollar bill. ‘Miss Coombs takes her coffee black.’

Ben stared at him. ‘You’re sending me out to buy refreshments for… her?’

Lucas’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘There some reason you’re too good for that, _Deputy_?’

Ben snatched the money from Lucas fingers and lurched to his feet. ‘Fine, _Sheriff_. Anything else I can do to ensure she enjoys her day?’

He managed to hold Lucas’s cool gaze for a few seconds before he had to look away.

‘We’ll discuss this later,’ Lucas said.

Ben licked his lips. ‘Lucas, I –’

‘I said _later_.’

Ben cringed as he shoved the bill into his pocket and shuffled outside. It was always like this. He had every reason to be annoyed, and instead of having that acknowledged, he had no hope of an actual apology, he ended up being the one in the wrong.

***

When he came back, Floyd was stood in the front office, scowling darkly. The other deputy had been out on patrol and, for a moment, Ben wondered why he was standing there without moving. Then the smell hit Ben.

‘What the heck is that stink?’ Ben demanded.

‘I fell in the septic tank at the Mullins place. Lucas said I wasn’t allowed in the office and you’d hose me off outside,’ Floyd said sulkily.

Ben groaned and skirted around him. ‘Course he did. Go wait outside.’

‘You ain’t the boss of me.’

‘You keep stinking up the place and nobody is gonna be the boss of you,’ Ben said, wafting his arms vaguely towards the door.

Floyd stomped towards the door. ‘I ain’t going because you told me. I’m going because I chose to.’

Ben rolled his eyes. ‘Long as you’re going.’ He pushed open the door to the sheriff station with his butt and carried everything in.

The door to Lucas’s office was open. That was unusual enough to bring Ben up to a pause. Miss Coombs was sat primly in the guest chair while Lucas lolled back in his seat.

Ben gave her the politest nod that he could manage when she gave him a sweet little smile as he put her coffee in front of her.

‘That’s awful sweet of you, Ben,’ she said.

He shuffled his feet. ‘The sheriff said you take it black.’

‘I enjoy something strong in my mouth,’ she said, looking him straight in the eye as she took a sip.

‘So does Ben,’ Lucas said, with a twisted smile as Ben put down the bag of donuts. ‘Personally, I dislike bitterness. It’s wearying.’ He gestured at the chair. ‘Sit down, Ben, eat your donut and drink your coffee. Not that you deserve either.’

‘Aren’t I supposed to be hosing down Floyd?’ Ben asked.

Miss Coombs chuckled. Then she shrugged at their looks. ‘It is kinda funny.’

‘You’re spending too much time with those schoolboys,’ Lucas said lightly.

She crossed her legs. Ben noticed her skirt raise a couple of inches. ‘My boys tend to buy me better presents.’

Lucas looked at Ben. ‘I said, _sit_.’

‘But Floyd –’

Lucas stood up. ‘Don’t make me hit you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.’

Ben reddened and sank down into the other chair. He watched Lucas stroll out of his office and into the front office.

‘Are you gonna eat your donuts?’ Miss Coombs asked.

Ben squirmed around to face her. ‘Some of them are for me?’

She took another sip of her coffee. ‘Share and share alike. It’s the only way to get through life, don’t you think?’

He glanced through the door. ‘Is he coming back?’

She sighed. ‘Ben, I know that you’re used to being daddy’s special boy. But you were never his only toy, you know that, right?’ She delicately took out one of the donuts.

Ben squirmed in his seat. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

Selena sighed sadly. ‘Do we really have to play this game?’ She crossed her legs. ‘I met Lucas when I was fifteen years old. How old were you, twenty-one, twenty-two?’

‘Twenty-one,’ Ben muttered. ‘Last year.’

She tilted her head. ‘Have I stamped my feet and sulked at _you_ , Ben?’

‘No, Ma’am,’ he mumbled.

‘Some folks would say that I would be the person with the right to raise all kinds of hell about it, if I had a mind.’ She nibbled the donut delicately.

‘I didn’t know… He didn’t say…’

She smiled angelically. ‘If you expect Lucas to keep you up to date with all his comings and goings then I’m afraid you’re going to be terribly disappointed.’ She leaned forward and softly laid her hand on his knee. ‘Lucas sees something special in you, Ben. I’m hoping that we can work together. Do you think you can see your way to that?’

Ben licked his lips. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Of course.’

‘How do you… How do you not stamp your feet and sulk?’

Selena shrugged graciously. ‘I know my own worth. Lucas has his passing fancies and so do I. But I know that I’m not a passing fancy. The fact that Lucas has me talking to you tell me that you aren’t either.’

Lucas strolled along the corridor and leaned in the doorway. ‘One day I’m going to have someone remind me why I hired Floyd.’

Selena stood up and smoothed down her dress. ‘His daddy was desperate to get him out of the house and willing to throw twenty thousand dollars towards your re-election fund.’

Lucas shrugged. ‘That could be it.’ He straightened up and moved aside as Selena walked towards the door. ‘Thank you for assisting your local sheriff’s department, Miss Coombs.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m _very_ public spirited.’

Lucas half turned to watch her go. ‘You’ll make that call?’

‘I said that I would,’ she called back.

Lucas pursed his lips as he walked around the desk. ‘Shut the door, Ben.’

Ben’s stomach cramped as he dragged himself to the door and shut it. ‘Lucas, I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘I should have never –’

‘Never done, never said it, blah, blah.’ Lucas unbuckled his belt and pulled it out slowly. ‘Words are cheap, Ben. A man is more interested in actions.’ He widened his stance and rested his hands on his hips. ‘Are you a _man_ , Ben?’

Ben licked his lips. ‘Yes, Lucas.’

Lucas raised an eyebrow. ‘Then _act_.’

Ben unbuttoned Lucas’s flies with shaky fingers and then sank to his knees.

***

Ben was bringing in a couple of teenage graffiti artists when Lucas came striding out of his office. There was an uncommon tension on his face. He frowned slightly when he noticed the two sullen boys scowling at the universe.

‘Getting a little over enthusiastic in recruiting for the junior deputy programme, ain’t you Ben?’

‘Caught these two smashing windows in the old furniture warehouse,’ Ben said.

One of the boys rolled his eyes. ‘Like anyone cares.’

‘I care,’ Ben said.

‘We need to go,’ Lucas said to Ben.

Ben licked his lips. ‘I need to phone their parents and –’

‘Come on, man, just wag your finger and tell us not to do it again,’ the other boy said.

Lucas smiled slightly. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. ‘I don’t think we’ve got time for you to tell these boys off,’ he said. ‘So, you’ll either have to tell them off or lock them in the cells until we get back.’

Ben watched the boy’s expressions slide from smirking relief to surprise and outrage. He was pretty sure his own expression took the opposite journey.

‘You can’t do that! My daddy will be so mad!’

Lucas raised his eyebrows. ‘What’s it to be, Deputy? Are we giving these young men a short, sharp shock or are we scared what their daddies will say?’

Ben set his shoulders. ‘I’ll have Floyd put them in the lockup.’

‘You’ve got five minutes to meet me in the car,’ Lucas said, strolling towards the door. ‘We don’t want to get there too late.’

‘Where are we going?’

Lucas glanced back as he opened the door. ‘The Temple place, so make sure you’ve had your coffee. You know how feisty Gage and Judith can get.’

Ben groaned softly, remembering the standoff that had happened the last time he’d been to the Temple place, but marched the boys out to the holding cells.

***

Lucas was distracted as Ben drove through the winding roads to the old Temple place. He was mercurial at best and Ben had learned not to try to predict his moods. Even so, Ben hadn’t seen him distracted this way since the last time they were there. Ben didn’t get it. He’d been around enough time now to know that folks like the Temples, living miles from anywhere in a falling down old house, where the kids learned to shoot before they learned to read, were hardly in short supply. Ben had learned that while Trinity had picket fences and beautifully kept gardens, it also had just as many drunk drivers, shoplifters, and wife beaters as the surrounding shantytowns and hollers.

He didn’t know what was different about the Temples. There was an uneasy and uncomfortable in the atmosphere between Lucas and Judith Temple. It made Ben anxious to think about it and he was sure that Gage could feel it too. Even so, he couldn’t figure why that would be making Lucas edgy. Lucas _thrived_ on making people anxious and uneasy.

As Ben turned down the long driveway to the Temple’s ramshackle house, he felt Lucas stir besides him. Up ahead, Ben could see flashing lights.

‘Did Kevin get here before us?’ Ben wondered. ‘I didn’t hear report anything on the radio.’

Lucas shook his head. ‘He’s over in Goat Town.’

Ben squinted. He could see now that the lights weren’t Kevin’s cruiser but an ambulance. It was parked askew, doors open, as if waiting hungrily for a patient to emerge from forbidding Temple house.

Lucas was already taking off his seatbelt as Ben parked the car.

‘My cousin told me they got those bullet proof vests,’ Ben offered. ‘He’s a Deputy Marshal over in Kentucky.’

Lucas flashed a look at him over his shoulder. ‘You think anyone with a shotgun is gonna see you in a bullet resistant vest and aim for your _chest_?’

Ben clenched his jaw. ‘I don’t see how wearing it would hurt none. If they weren’t aiming for my chest. Shotguns ain’t known for their accuracy.’

Lucas stood up. ‘I’m sure that would be a comfort to Barbara Joy when she buries you. Face full of shot but at least your chest was only a little bit bruised.’

Ben pulled a face as Lucas strode towards the gaping maw of the Temple house. Ben felt a familiar stab of embarrassment and shame at again saying the wrong thing. It was an automatic response though and cut off abruptly when he noticed, once again, the way that Lucas’s pants clung to his ass.

Ben had never thought that way about another man before. His whole life he’d never so much as looked another man as desirable. He’d seen plenty of other men in showers and locker rooms when he was playing football. Seen so many other men naked that he couldn’t have named half of them. He’d never felt so much as a quickening of his heart when he saw any of them.

There were days when Lucas was of a mind to play with him kindly. When all he had to do was look Ben in the eye and give that little half smile and it sent Ben’s blood rushing in the wrong direction. Days when he’d purr Ben’s name, soft and low, and send Ben’s blood pressure soaring. Hell, even those days when he was minded to cruelty, it didn’t take much for Lucas to have Ben twisting and begging for his release.

Ben would be the first to admit that sometimes he screwed up, but he knew too that the two didn’t always go together. Sometimes a screw-up resulted in a punishment, but Ben knew that there were days when Lucas was just struck by a particular mood and nothing Ben could do could shift him from it. Like last week. Lucas had taken a phone call. Ben didn’t know who was calling or what they were calling about. Lucas hadn’t said a word about it, just brooded as he had Ben drive him to the bookshop, the florists, and finally the hospital. When Ben summoned his nerve to ask about the book of poetry and bouquet of flowers that Lucas delivered to someone in the hospital, he was pinned under the cool, piercing gaze.

‘ _Excuse me?’_

_‘Um…’_

_‘Drive to your house,’ Lucas had ordered._

_‘My house?’ Ben had asked._

_Lucas had given a silent look of absolute disdain that had sent Ben’s heart dropping into his boots. He hadn’t said another word until they arrived at the little house Barbara Joy was still complaining cost less than her sister’s. As they had arrived, Ben had seen that the car was gone, and he had remembered vaguely that she had said something about going to visit her sister. Even so, Ben had felt guilty just walking in through the door. There was work with Lucas and there was home with Barbara Joy. As long as he kept them apart, he could pretend that they were different worlds. That they didn’t affect each other._

_He had seen Lucas in the living room and felt that surety shaking. What had shattered that surety into a thousand shining shards, was Lucas handcuffing him naked on the bed he shared with Barbara Joy. Lucas had slipped two pillows under Ben’s stomach, slightly lifting his midriff and legs._

_Ben hadn’t liked being handcuffed and he hated being gagged. It had been a rare punishment, made worse by Lucas positioning him opposite the mirror on Barbara Joy’s dresser. Ben had tried closing his eyes, but Lucas hadn’t liked that. He had wanted Ben to watch as he slowly unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his flies. Lucas had wanted to meet Ben’s eyes in the mirror as he took him roughly from behind._

_Lucas had still been fully dressed. As he looked in the mirror and met Ben’s eyes in the reflection, he began to whistle._

_When Barbara Joy had returned home, Lucas had looked at Ben’s panicked expression, and grinned._

Ben shook himself and scurried out of the car and after Lucas.

‘You need to get your head out of the clouds,’ Lucas said as Ben caught up. 

‘Sorry, Lucas,’ he said penitently. ‘I was thinking about… about last week when Barbara Joy came home on Thursday.’

There was a second, less, maybe, when Lucas didn’t know what he was talking about. Ben knew he wouldn’t forget that afternoon if he lived to be a thousand.

Lucas smiled slightly. ‘When you were _indisposed_?’

‘Uh, yeah, if she’d come in the bedroom –’

Lucas raised an eyebrow. ‘She wasn’t going to go into the bedroom, Ben. I wasn’t going to let that happen.’

Ben shuffled his feet. ‘No. Sorry, Lucas.’

Lucas turned back to the door. ‘Just you remember who looks after you.’

Not Barbara Joy, that was for sure. Lucas had told her that Ben had food poisoning and that she should give him a couple of hours alone while his stomach settled. Then while Barbara Joy had watched her soaps downstairs, Lucas had finished having his way with Ben upstairs. If anything, having her downstairs had encouraged Lucas to try to wring every possible sound out of Ben.

Ben hoped that if she actually saw him genuinely sick, she would be kindlier disposed and less curt at his inability to run errands for her.

***

Gage Temple was of no mood to go to hospital. He was in the broken-down armchair, teeth gritted as the paramedics looked at the bruises forming on his face and arms. As Ben stepped into the room, he noticed Merlyn under the table, arms around her knees, rocking backwards and forwards. Judith Temple was pacing the room, her clenched fists at her sides. Ben hadn’t seen her since the last time they’d been there. He hadn’t heard that she was pregnant. Nearly ready to drop the baby from what Ben could tell. Not that he’d claim to know much about ladies having babies. His mama hadn’t thought it was right for a boy to know anything about pregnancy or childbirth and Barbara Joy flat out refused to let him into any of her appointments.

There was a rolling pin, incongruously abandoned in the middle of the table. One of the handles had snapped off.

‘Who the hell called you?’ Gage demanded, glaring at Lucas.

‘I’m the _sheriff_ , Gage,’ Lucas said. ‘You get your ass beat then you better believe that I’m gonna hear about it.’

‘You ain’t wanted,’ Judith said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. ‘That so?’

‘We need to get him to the hospital,’ one of the paramedics said.

‘I ain’t going nowhere!’ Gage insisted.

‘Mr Temple, you’ve probably got a concussion.’

Ben shuffled his feet and edged over to the table. He knelt down to look at Merlyn. ‘Hey, sweetheart, you okay under there?’

She didn’t look at him but also didn’t shift to avoid him seeing the vivid bruises on her arm.

‘Have you looked at the little girl?’ Ben asked, looking at the paramedics. ‘She’s got –’

‘She’s fine,’ Judith snapped.

‘But someone –’

Lucas pursed his lips. ‘What’re you boys waiting for? Gage needs his head checking to make sure that his brains aren’t leaking out of his ears and Judith needs to get the little one off to bed.’

Ben got up to his feet. ‘Uh, shouldn’t we be asking questions?’

Lucas cocked his head. ‘Are you unclear what happened here?’ He gestured at Merlyn. ‘Are you confused by those bruises? Like a big, _strong_ man grabbed at her and then someone stopped him.’ He smiled brightly. ‘Everything worked out.’

The paramedics dragged out the still protesting Gage. Judith didn’t move but remained glaring at them both.

Ben licked his lips. There was always the same heavy, unpleasant atmosphere between Lucas and Judith. It wasn’t unusual for there to be a kind of tension between Lucas and women, and Lucas and some men, come to that. It was different with Judith. She had this _rage_ in every line of her body. It shone from her eyes. Ben didn’t think that he’d ever met a woman as angry as Judith.

It was angry enough that even Lucas was wary. But it was the wariness of a mongoose with a cobra. A wariness that slowed him but didn’t divert him from whatever it was that he was going to do.

‘But Lucas, if they’ve been beating up on each other and the little girl –’

Judith sighed. ‘Deputy, if you’re going to worry about _my_ safety, then you are in the wrong job.’

‘It kind of is my job,’ he protested.

She looked at Lucas. ‘Still working on getting him housebroken, huh?’

Lucas shrugged with his mouth. ‘We’re working on his obedience, but he’s having kind of a day.’

‘Imagine that,’ she said.

‘Wife’s about to drop the baby. It’s a stressful time.’ Lucas glanced at Ben. ‘Take Merlyn to her bedroom. Pick her up if you have to.’

Judith relaxed a fraction. ‘You’re not staying?’

‘No time,’ Lucas said, shaking his head. ‘Barbara Joy’s water just broke and if this one misses the birth; I will _never_ hear the end of it.’

Ben, half carrying Merlyn, spun on his heel. ‘She’s what?’

Lucas rolled his eyes. ‘Put the child in bed, Ben,’ he said slowly and carefully. ‘You’ve got time.’

‘Shit!’ Ben rushed into the bedroom and settled Merlyn in bed as quickly as humanly possible.

***

It was the first time Ben could remember Lucas driving the car. Ben was barely aware of the route that they took. His nails bit into his palms as the car slid through the woodland along winding roads and finally towards the city. He’d only been here to visit the hospital. He kept meaning to see the galleries and the book shops and all that cultural stuff. He never seemed to have the time. Lucas took up most of the oxygen and then there was Barbara Joy…

Lucas squeezed his knee. It didn’t linger. His hand moved smoothly to Ben’s knee and then back to the steering wheel. It was closer to comfort to come-on. The closest thing to comfort that he’d ever felt from Lucas.

Ben bit his knuckle as the car slipped into the parking lot.

‘She’s early,’ he said, the first thing he’d said since he’d got into the car.

Lucas looked at him askance. ‘Three weeks. Ben, that’s nothing. It’s just putting on weight.’

‘It is?’

Lucas rolled his eyes and got out of the car. ‘Here I was thinking you were the kind of man who’d do his homework on having children.’

Ben found himself scrambling after Lucas as he strode towards the hospital. ‘Barbara Joy wouldn’t let me come into any of the classes!’

‘There are _books_ , Ben, many and varied.’ Lucas flicked him a look that was both judgemental and disappointed.

Ben cringed inwardly as he scurried towards the hospital entrance.

***

Lucas leaned against the wall and took the Styrofoam coffee cup from the vending machine. He took a sip, winced at the taste, and wandered over towards Ben. Lucas handed the cup to Ben who automatically took it and took a gulp.

‘They say she’s on her way in,’ Ben said. ‘We’re really lucky we got here this quick.’

Lucas cocked his head. ‘Luck is what I make it.’

‘I guess.’ Ben pushed his fingers through his already sparse hair. ‘Thanks, Lucas. Bringing me to the hospital. Staying while she arrives. It means a lot to me.’

There was a flicker of surprise in Lucas’s eyes and then he shrugged. ‘What else are friends for?’

Ben played with his cup of coffee. ‘Well, I was never very good at that sort of thing.’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘Making friends,’ Ben said. He shrugged. ‘I’m not very charming or anything like that.’

Lucas took a breath and blew out his cheeks. ‘I guess charm is in the eye of the beholder.’

They both turned as the door was opened and a pretty young nurse came in. The nurse stared at Lucas in unabashed interest before dragging her attention to Ben.

‘Mr Healy, your wife is in the delivery room.’

Ben dragged himself to his feet and straightened his shoulders.

‘Call when it’s all done,’ Lucas said. ‘I’ll get Floyd to come and drive you back to town.’

Ben flashed him a look of pure gratitude. ‘Thanks, Lucas. I won’t forget this.’

Lucas smiled warmly, sending sparks to skitter up and down Ben’s spine. ‘I’m glad to hear that.’

The nurse gave him another admiring look. ‘I’m Holly Gallagher,’ she said. ‘If you’re coming back then you can ask for me.’

Lucas tipped his head. ‘You work in the maternity ward?’

‘For my sins,’ she said with a laugh that she probably thought was coquettish.

His smile changed. Grew sharper in some way. ‘I will absolutely ask for you when I come back.’

***

Ben came into a room full of screaming, and the kind of screaming his uncle the navy cook would’ve admired. As someone attempted an injection in a place that would’ve made Ben’s eyes water, Barbara Joy lashed out with her foot and sent them sprawling back.

‘Hey!’ Ben protested. ‘You can’t do that!’

She glared at him. ‘Get out!’

‘Now listen –’

‘Mr Healy, a word?’ asked the doctor, pulling Ben out into the corridor. ‘Mrs Healy is rather distressed, so we’d like your permission to perform a caesarean under general anaesthetic.’ 

Ben blinked. ‘You want to knock her unconscious and cut the baby out?’

‘It’s a perfectly standard procedure,’ the doctor said. ‘It would be easier for us. You saw just now how hysterical she is.’

‘She’s in pain!’

‘She’s going to continue to be in pain until we put her under anaesthesia.’

Ben put his hands on his hips. ‘What does she say?’

The doctor waved his hand. ‘She’s hardly in a sensible frame of mind to make that kind of decision. It would be best for everyone to just get it over and done with as soon as possible.’

‘I don’t know about this,’ Ben said, shaking his head.

‘As soon as you can see the baby, we’ll have a nurse tell you.’

Ben opened and closed his mouth. ‘You don’t want me in there?’

The doctor clucked his tongue. ‘My word, no. Modern nonsense. I have no truck with that kind of thing.’

‘Now look –’

‘You don’t want to see your wife in such a state,’ the doctor said briskly. ‘No good Southern woman would want to be exposed like that.’

‘I’m her husband!’

The doctor nodded. ‘And your wife is your helper and the natural desire of your romantic longings. Believe me, Mr Healy, I see it every day. Women can look _very_ different when they’re giving birth. You might not be able to look at her the same. Even the prettiest and most demure woman can be a harridan under such circumstances.’

‘But she’s never been demure,’ Ben muttered.

***

Ben trudged back to the waiting room, a sick and heavy feeling in his gut. The doctor swore it was the right thing to do, had been firm about it as could be, but it felt wrong all the same. Ben was sure that Barbara Joy would have plenty to say about it once she woke up.

He almost jumped when he saw the familiar cowboy boots propped up on the opposite chairs.

‘Lucas? I figured you were gonna go back to Trinity.’

Lucas glanced at him and picked up a container of genuine takeout coffee from one of the new-fangled expensive places with Italian coffee. ‘Little bird told me you’d be heading back here,’ he said. ‘Have a coffee.’

‘Wow, thanks.’ He accepted it gratefully and sank down into an empty seat.

‘Besides, they had to admit Gage, and someone should be here for Judith.’

Ben sipped his coffee. It was rich and fragrant and tasted slightly of vanilla. ‘Judith Temple?’

Lucas sipped his own coffee. ‘She went into labour as they were putting Gage into the ambulance.’

Ben licked his lips, aware that Lucas was quieter and more thoughtful than he had seen him before. ‘She didn’t look as far along as Barbara Joy. Not that I’m an expert or –’

‘She ain’t,’ Lucas said shortly. ‘Seven weeks early.’

‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Ben said carefully.

‘It ain’t great.’

Ben sighed. ‘I hope Gage treats this one better than the one he’s got.’

Lucas’s lip curled up. ‘He will.’ He gave Ben a silent look. It wasn’t inviting inquiry at all, but it wasn’t quite a challenge.

Ben was too aware of how much he had already irritated Lucas that day to push his luck now. ‘I wonder what they’re hoping for.’ He looked away. ‘Maybe a boy since they already got a girl.’

Lucas sipped his coffee. ‘A girl can’t carry on a legacy.’

Ben shrugged. ‘Depends what the legacy is. Times are changing.’

Lucas leaned back. ‘Not in Trinity.’

They watched a nurse walk through on her way somewhere in a hurry.

‘Who’s looking after the little girl?’ Ben asked.

‘Merlyn,’ Lucas said. ‘Child Services.’

Ben licked his lips. ‘What’s… you know?’

Lucas looked at him. ‘What’s wrong with her? Is that what you’re asking?’

Ben squirmed in his chair. ‘I just meant… Yeah.’

Lucas sipped his coffee. ‘Far as I know they never got her diagnosed officially.’ He glanced at Ben. ‘She gets stuck on things. Ideas and so forth.’

Ben silently shook his head. ‘I don’t know how Barbara Joy and I would cope.’

‘That’s not gonna happen.’

‘You don’t think?’ Ben asked, pathetically hopeful. He didn’t understand the look that Lucas gave him or why Lucas patted his knee.

‘You’ve got nothing to worry about,’ Lucas promised.

***

Ben followed Nurse Holly along the corridor. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked along, bracing himself against the coldness and darkness. Ben hadn’t spent a lot of time in hospitals, but he had ideas of how they should look: white, clean, and bright, none of which seemed to apply to the Fulton County Hospital. It was dark, echoing, and strangely oppressive.

Nurse Holly had said something to him. Ben shook his head.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.’

‘You work for the sheriff?’ she repeated.

‘Uh, yeah, for uh… nearly seven months,’ Ben said.

She bit her lower lip as she opened a door. ‘He’s not married, right?’

Ben shook his head.

‘I didn’t think so,’ she said.

‘How old are you?’ Ben asked.

She actually gasped. ‘What kind of a thing is that to ask a lady?’

Ben rolled his eyes. ‘You just seem kinda young for Lucas is all.’

Holly glowered. ‘I am a full-grown woman; I’ll have you know.’ She threw open a door, stomped over to a crib, and picked up a sleeping infant.

Ben shifted his feet. It wasn’t his business if the girl was throwing herself at Lucas. She was a healthy-looking girl who was obviously old enough for playing around with whatever man took her fancy. Not that many folks seemed to wait until the law said they were old enough from the stories that Ben heard. It was only surprising that more angry parents didn’t come storming into the Sheriff’s station to place complaints about it. And, well, Lucas had made it _real_ clear that Ben didn’t have any say in who he spent his time. If he wanted to pass some of it with Holly, then he surely wouldn’t appreciate Ben getting gummed up in the works.

Even so, Ben felt bad not saying anything else. Holly looked maybe eighteen. Not that much younger than Ben but a few years were enough. Lucas could get a girl like that into a _mess_ of trouble, the like of which she’d never seen.

‘Here he is,’ she said, handing over the baby to Ben. ‘Congratulations.’

Ben caught his breath as he tried to get a grip on the baby. ‘Is Barbara Joy okay with him being out here?’

‘She won’t be awake until tomorrow,’ Holly said, waving her hand. ‘Have you thought about a name?’

‘All the oldest boys in my family are called Ben,’ he said, moving towards the door.

‘Oh, you can’t take him out of here!’ she said, rushing towards him.

‘Why not?’

‘It’s against the rules!’

Ben scowled. ‘Well, is he sick or something?’ he demanded. ‘Because if he’s not then I’m gonna walk to the waiting room with him. You people insisted on knocking out my wife, and now I won’t be able to talk to her until tomorrow, but I can at least share this with my… boss, my friend, who is in the waiting room.’

Holly rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, Jeez, but we have to bring him back afterwards.’

***

It wasn’t often that Ben caught Lucas by surprise, although Lucas surprised _him_ one way or another pretty much every day. As Ben opened the door though, Lucas turned towards him, and Ben saw the standard blank politeness shift as Lucas registered the baby. He looked genuinely confused. Not an expression or emotion that Ben much associated with him.

Selena, put her hand on Lucas’s forearm, and smiled at Ben. He hardly knew her, and he barely trusted her, but he thought it was an honest smile.

‘I think he’s asleep now,’ Ben whispered.

‘Don’t get used to that,’ Selena said, walking over. ‘May I see him?’

‘Oh, oh, sure.’

Ben let her take the baby from him but didn’t take his eyes away. He felt Lucas’s hand on his back, rubbing in circles.

‘How does it feel being a proud daddy?’ Lucas asked warmly.

Ben turned his head. Lucas was only a few inches away.

‘I don’t know,’ Ben said honestly. ‘I just… He’s so beautiful.’

Lucas smiled. ‘I guess we won’t be seeing you in work tomorrow.’

In the doorway, Holly cleared her throat loudly and tapped her watch.

‘I guess I need to take him back to the ward,’ Ben said.

‘Congratulations, Ben,’ Selena said, and kissed his cheek. ‘We’ll have to celebrate.’

Lucas chuckled. ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got a _lot_ to celebrate.’

An alarm went off somewhere beyond the doorway. Holly spun on her heel and sprinted out.

‘What’s going on? Is it Barbara Joy? Is she okay?’ Ben looked around desperately.

Selena took the baby from him and walked to the windows.

‘Lucas, is it –’

‘Ben, I need you to take a breath and calm down.’ Lucas cupped the nape of Ben’s neck with his hand. His skin was very warm against Ben’s. ‘That alarm ain’t for Barbara Joy. Nothing is gonna happen to her, you have my word on that.’

Ben took some deep breaths. ‘Thank you.’

Lucas shrugged. ‘What’re friends for?’

Ben blew out his cheeks as Lucas dropped his hand. ‘I wonder who the alarm is for?’

A shadow passed across Lucas’s face. ‘Well, Judith gave birth a little while since. I hear tell it was difficult birth.’

‘It’s getting late,’ Selena said mildly. ‘Ben, do you want to come back to town with us?’

Ben nodded. ‘I’ll take the baby back to the nursery.’

‘Maybe Lucas should go with you,’ Selena suggested. ‘With all the alarms going off security might be a little overexcited.’

Ben was turning away so he didn’t see Lucas’s expression.

‘You’re just full of helpful ideas, aren’t you?’ Lucas said dryly.

‘Anything for you, darling,’ she said sweetly.

***

Holly had not yet reappeared as Ben and Lucas walked into the neonatal ward. Even Ben, still dazed and dizzied by the overwhelming emotions of holding his new son, was thrown by the sudden quietness of the hospital. It was too quiet. The quiet of something awful happening somewhere else and sucking away all the attention.

There were a dozen other babies in the ward. As Ben settled the baby into his crib, he was faintly aware of Lucas moving around the room. Ben had heard all the things that people said about having children. About the world changing. About being shocked at how tiny they were. All that stuff. He had heard it and he hadn’t _disbelieved_ it exactly, but he hadn’t understood it. Not the way he understood it now. How did people abuse their children when they’d seen them like this, when they had felt this way? How did any parent abandon their child when they had known the perfect purity of their baby looking into their eyes?

He looked for Lucas. The other man was up in the corner of the room by another cot. This area was clearly different. Instead of cots there were incubators. It didn’t seem right to Ben that they would be with all the other babies, but what did he know? Maybe the hospital hadn’t much call for incubators most of the time.

Part of Ben was upset by that, offended almost, that Lucas would choose to pay attention to some random other baby over Ben’s. Another part, the part that was cynical and bitter, and too often _right_ , said that of _course_ Lucas was looking at the other baby. That was why Selena had suggested he come in here. Ben wasn’t even fooling himself. Hell, he was barely lying to himself about it.

But Lucas hadn’t told Ben that he was the father of Judith Temple’s baby. Even if Ben had been 100% sure that he was right, and he _wasn’t_ , Lucas hadn’t chosen to share that with him. That stung, it stung a whole lot, but that was a complaint for another time. What was important now was that Lucas hadn’t told him, so Ben was restricted in what he could say.

Ben kissed his baby on the forehead and took an oblique path around to Lucas. He stopped a few feet away and licked his lips.

‘It’s amazing,’ he suggested, watching for every tiny movement in Lucas’s face. ‘I didn’t realise how amazing it was until I looked into his face.’

‘Happens every day,’ Lucas said, still looking at the baby.

‘Yeah,’ Ben said. ‘So do earthquakes and lightning strikes and all that stuff. I mean, still pretty incredible though.’

Lucas turned his head and gave Ben a sideways look. ‘You’re comparing fatherhood to natural disasters?’

Ben laughed and rubbed his head. ‘I guess I am.’

Lucas smiled slightly and took a step back. ‘There are days, Ben, when I feel that you and I have an entirely different approach to life. Then there days like today when you say something like that, and I am forced to agree that you are entirely correct.’

Ben took a couple of steps forward and looked at the little placard. He wasn’t surprised by what he saw.

‘Judith Temple had her baby? That was quick,’ Ben said, looking sideways at Lucas.

‘Seems like he was in a rush to greet the world,’ Lucas said dryly.

Ben shuffled his feet. ‘When I was born my daddy didn’t come near the hospital,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t done then.’

Lucas chuckled darkly. ‘My father would’ve called it woman’s work.’

‘I would’ve liked to have seen my son born,’ Ben said quietly. ‘Not that Barbara Joy got to see him born either.’

Lucas squared his shoulders. ‘No point fretting about what could’ve been. Life ain’t what you wish it was.’ He gave Ben a long look and then put his hand on Ben’s shoulder. ‘He’s got his whole life ahead of him. You’re no less his daddy for not being in the room.’

It took Ben a second to bite his tongue and drag back the words that queued up to be spoken. ‘Thanks. Hopefully I’ll be around a lot longer than my father was.’

Lucas turned away from the incubator and visibly shifted his focus to Ben. ‘You grew up mostly with your momma?’

Ben nodded as they headed to the door. ‘She worked real hard.’

***

Ben looked up as they walked out of the entrance. He realised that he had no idea what time it was. The sky was midnight blue and the dim moonlight was obscured by the dark and drifting clouds. It was a full and heavy moon that hung low in the sky.

‘You gonna bring the car around?’ Selena asked Lucas.

‘Is it your chauffer’s day off?’ he returned.

She rolled her eyes. ‘That might be amusing if you didn’t have a problem with a woman driving you around.’

Ben hid his own small smile. Lucas was hardly the only man in the county who would refuse to allow a woman to drive him around, even in her own car. Ben wouldn’t have made a fuss about it himself, but mostly because he didn’t have to nerve to tell any woman that she couldn’t drive her own car.

Lucas didn’t reply. He was looking up at the hospital. Selena and Ben exchanged a glance and she shivered. Ben automatically took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. She gave him a surprised but genuine smile.

There was a flash of lightning that illuminated the window and then the rumble of thunder. Ben saw, for a moment, the silhouette of a woman against the glass. There was another flash of lightning, the sound of shattering glass, and a scream that was smothered by another roll of thunder.

Selena gasped. Ben jumped back.

The woman hit the ground fifteen feet away.

Ben looked at Lucas. He didn’t know what he expected to see. Surprise maybe or shock. Instead, sadness touched Lucas’s dark eyes for a moment before his expression hardened.

‘Lucas!’ Selena snapped, but seemed lost for what else to say.

He gave her a narrow-eyed glance before pursing his lips. ‘Ben, take Ms Coombs home, would you? Looks like I’m going to be here for a while.’

Selena turned on her heel without waiting for Ben’s response and marched away.

‘Who is it?’ Ben asked. ‘It’s not… It’s not Barbara Joy I’m sure.’

‘Judith Temple,’ Lucas said flatly.

Ben swallowed. ‘I’m sorry.’

Lucas gave him a sharp, accusatory look that softened as quickly as it appeared. ‘She didn’t have what you’d call a happy life.’

Ben took a half step towards him, but hospital staff were rushing out of the entrance now.

Lucas glanced at them and then at Ben. ‘Best not keep Selena waiting, Ben,’ he said more quietly than Ben expected. ‘She ain’t known for her patience.’

Ben nodded. ‘I’ll be back in work on Monday,’ he promised.

Lucas didn’t reply. Ben followed Selena’s path towards the car lot. She was leaning against her car, arms folded tightly, and her foot tapping on the floor. As Ben drew near, he glanced back towards the hospital. He could see Lucas shadowed against the lights of the entrance. A tall, dark shape untouchable and unyielding. 

Selena looked past Ben and shook her head. ‘Just once I’d like an evening with Lucas not to end up with someone dying.’

Ben tried to laugh but the sound died in his throat.

The End


End file.
